09 April 2018

Experiences of children and families to shape Scotland's approach to mental health services

The Scottish Association of Mental Health (SAMH) is looking for children, young people and their families with direct experience of the current CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) system. Their experiences and views will help to shape Scotland's approach to mental health services.

One in five young people who are referred to CAMHS are rejected. At a national level, SAMH want to learn more about this situation.

The Scottish Government has asked SAMH to gather evidence from children, young people and their families to help understand and improve the situation.

SAMH is working in partnership with NSS Information Services Division (ISD), part of NHS National Services Scotland, who will take forward a statistical audit of CAMHS data to complete the picture of the current system. SAMH is taking forward a qualitative audit. This began in late 2017 and the fieldwork is now moving to its digital phase.

Survey

To gather the experiences of young people and families, SAMH has launched a survey which is running between 9 – 29 April.

Do you know a young person whose referral to CAMHS was rejected? Have you made a referral to CAMHS on behalf of a young person that was rejected? Or maybe you know of a family who have been through this experience? If so, SAMH are encouraging you to either take part in or to share it.